103 Facts You Never Knew About Animals

Learn something new every day, not many people do and this will set you apart in the long run.

This may sound obvious or corny, but it’s true.

Now:

Read the list below, you never know when this knowledge may come in handy some day.

Hedgehogs

Hedgehog’s hearts are much quicker than ours, on average it beats 300 times per minute.

Hedgehogs float in water.

They have between 4,000 to 5,000 spines, each lasts about a year long and then drops out and another one grows in it's place.

In average they live around 6 years.

There are 15 different species of hedgehog's.

Bats

Bats are the only mammals on the planet that can really fly.

Bats are always trying to turn left when they are leaving their cave.

They live in big groups, the largest bat colony in the world is in Texas and sometimes the bats population in one cave in Texas can be up to 20 million bats at the same time.

Bats fingers are longer than their legs!

Elephants

Elephants mate mostly in rainy seasons.

There is only one mammal that can’t jump, an elephant.

Elephants Can't see very well, but their sense of smell is like no other!

However weird this may sound: Elephants can swim! they are big and heavy but they can swim and breathe with their trunks while their entire body is underwater.

Elephants show emotions, they can laugh and cry.

Cows

It’s easier for a cow to go upstairs then down stairs.

Cows don’t dream when they stand, they can fall asleep but they can only dream if they are sleeping lying down.

Cows remember their opinion about every other cow and if they dislike someone they might dislike them for life.

Even today, Cows are still being experimented on around the UK.

Cats

Cats can produce more than a 100 different sounds, dogs can only produce up to 10 different sounds.

Cats have more bones than humans, actually 24 more bones.

Let the cat rule: "Mr. Stubbs" the cat has been the mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska since 1997 and still is acting as mayor even in 2015.

Cats can live up to 15 years on average.

Ancient Egyptians used to shave their eyebrows when their cat has died to show respect for the cat.

Ducks

Anatidaephobia is defined as a fear that one is being watched by a duck.

The ducks feather structure and their waxy coating makes ducks waterproof, even if swimming under the water their skin remain dry.

The two most famous cartoon ducks in the world are Donald Duck and Daffy Duck.

Almost all the duck species are looking for mates for the breeding season and then they move on, they don't stay together as a couple afterwards.

Alligators

In order to get away from an alligator’s jaws, you should push your thumbs in his eyes, this will cause him to open his mouth wide.

Alligators can age up to 100 years.

Alligators like all the other reptiles are cold-blooded. that means they don't need to eat as much as we do to remain warm. that's why they can eat once a week and remain perfectly healthy.

After an alligator's egg is laid, the gender is not yet known and is subjective to change. it will change according to the weather. in warmer temperatures it will become a male and in colder temperatures a female.

Some alligators are so big that they can weigh up to 450 kg (1000 lbs).

Ostriches

The flightless ostrich is the largest bird in the world.

Ostriches does not have any teeth, they grind the food they eat by swallowing pebbles. an adult ostrich got around 0.5-1 kg of stones in its stomach.

An ostrich’s eye is bigger than it’s brain.

Ostriches can run faster than any other bird. they run at a rate of about 70 kmh (43.5 mph) and can cover up to 5 meters (16.4 feet) in one single step.

Ants

Ants never sleep nor they have lungs.

on average, for every human on earth there is about one million ants.

Army ants are not afraid of bigger animals. they sometimes attack birds, reptiles and some small mammals.

There are a few species of ants that can swim.

Queen ants have wings. they shed them however when they move to start a new nest.

Oysters

Oysters gender is subjective to change, they switch genders for whatever is best for them when they want to mate.

Oyster shells got a lot of calcium in it, using the shells in your garden can make your plants stronger.

They help to clean the water! every oyster can filter about 35-50 gallons of water in just one day!

Oysters got colorless blood. it is completely transparent.

Chickens

The longest a chicken was recorded flying was for 13 seconds.

It was proven in a research that some chicken are smarter than toddlers, the chickens in the research showed self control, mathematical reasoning and some structural engineering.

Chickens can understand that when you take an object from them and hide it, it still exists. toddlers can't.

Chickens got great memory! they can remember up to 100 individuals and they can even be humans.

Camels

Camels have two layers of eyelids to protect their eyes from sand in the desert.

Arabian camels have one hump whereas Asian camels have two.

Camels drink a lot. up to 7 liters a day actually.

There are more than 160 different words for "camel" in the Arabic language.

Frogs

Frogs tongues are connected to their mouth at the the front rather than the back like humans, this allows them to push the tongue out quickly and catch their prey.

Frogs are found everywhere around the world, except for Antarctica.

Frogs don't drink water, they stand and jump around in the water and their skin absorbs it.

Their bones form a ring so later scientists can identify their age by checking their bones.

Beavers

Beaver’s teeth never stop growing, if they stop chewing wood and hurt their teeth then eventually they will grow into their brain.

Beavers love their families! new dams are usually being built by male beavers trying to find a mate or a new couple as a new home for them and their children, after it's built they will live there a family.

Beavers are really winter proof, they don't feel much cold and can keep working even on ice.

Beavers are the national animal of Canada.

They use their flat tail for many things, To name a few: slapping the water when they sense danger to alert the other beavers, steer under water and balancing themselves on land.

Butterflies

Butterflies have the ability to taste with their feet.

Butterflies have 4 wings, not 2.

There are some species of moths that can't eat anything at all because they don't have a mouth! they have to live off the energy stored from the time they were caterpillars.

A butterfly can live up to 1 year.

There are about 24,000 different species of butterflies.

Whales

Blue Whale is 98 feet long (30 meter) in length, and can weigh up to 39,683 pounds (18,000 Kilogram).

Whales are mammals just like us, and they have hair! well, not so much of it, but still.

Back to the Blue Whale. his heart is in the size of a midsize car, and it weighs around 992 pounds (450 kg), let this sink in for a second.

Whales can't sleep for many hours, this is because they have to go back to the surface again for air. as you may already know, they breathe through their blowhole.

Penguins

Penguins propose marriage to one another by giving the other a pebble, after that they remain together for the rest of their life.

Penguins skin is black on the outside so their skin blend with the ocean color from above and it's harder for eagles to spot them and hunt. while their skin is white on the inside so predatory mammals from the ocean will not spot them through the ice, that's protection on both sides.

Most penguins spend around 75% of their time underwater.

Penguins can bounce up to 5 feet from the ground!

Koalas

Koalas sleep most of the time, in fact they sleep for 18 hours every day.

Koalas in the north part of Australia have thinner skin than the koalas in the south. it meant to help them with the hotter weather as opposed to those in the south they have thicker skin for the harsh winters of south Australia.

When Koalas are born they are about 2 centimeters long! that's less than one inch.

Donkeys

Donkeys kill more people in a year then aircraft accidents.

The Egyptians were very rich in the old times. that's all thanks to the donkeys carrying valuable metals from Africa.

China has more donkeys than any other country on earth.

Donkeys don't like the winter, the rain is dangerous to them because their fur is not waterproof.

Dogs

There's about 450 million dogs in the world right now.

Chocolate can kill a dog, it affects his heart and nervous system. The amount should be big for the dog to die, but still it is highly recommended you keep them away from it.

There is a widely known belif that dogs are color blind, this is actully not correct, they can see colors just less vivid than we can.

In Roman times, Dogs were warriors! they wore light armors and were sent after mounted knights to get them off the horse.

Dogs are mentioned 14 times in the Bible.

Flamingos

Flamingos can only eat when their heads are upside down.

Flamingos lay only one egg for a year, if that egg is lost or broken for some reason, they don't bother trying to make another.

When a flamingo is born he or she are white - gray colored for about 3 years until they develop their color which change based on the species and become orange, red or pink.

Flamingo's legs can be up to 30-50 inches long. that's longer than their entire bodies!

Horses

Horses like us, can express their feelings using facials expressions.

Horses look after for one another, if you see a herd of horses, at least one of them will be standing up to keep watch while the others might be taking a nap lying down.

They can see for almost 360 degrees as their eyes are on the sides of their faces.

Most horses can live up to 20-30 years old.

Kangaroos

Baby kangaroos are sometimes feeling scared and when they do, many times they jump head first into their mother's pouch.

Kangaroos are the national animal of Australia, they appear on their postage stamps, coins and even airplanes.

When on land, the kangaroo moves by jumping with moving both legs simultaneously. however while swimming they move them one at each time.

Kangaroos like to live in very large groups. sometimes a kangaroos group (also known as "mob") can be no less than a 100 in number. they are all dominated by the largest male in the group.

Giraffes

Giraffes are the tallest mammals on earth. their newborns are higher than most humans.

They love peace. they rarely fight but they will protect their own from any harm if necessary.

They learn to walk, well... quickly! they stand up after only 30 minutes after their birth and in 10 hours they can already run.

Their spot pattern is unique! no two giraffes ever have the same pattern. just like all humans have different fingerprints.